ofr 2004-16, inactive and abandoned mine lands: … mine, twisp mining district, okanogan county,...

INACTIVE AND ABANDONEDMINE LANDS—

Alder Mine,Twisp Mining District,

Okanogan County,Washington

by Fritz E. Wolff,Donald T. McKay, Jr.,and David K. Norman

WASHINGTON

DIVISION OF GEOLOGY

AND EARTH RESOURCES

Open File Report 2004-16July 2004

NA

TU

RA

LR

ES

OU

RC

ES

OkanoganCounty

sitelocation

INACTIVE AND ABANDONEDMINE LANDS—

Alder Mine,Twisp Mining District,

Okanogan County, Washington

by Fritz E. Wolff,Donald T. McKay, Jr.,and David K. Norman

WASHINGTON

DIVISION OF GEOLOGY

AND EARTH RESOURCES

Open File Report 2004-16July 2004

DISCLAIMER

Neither the State of Washington, nor any agency thereof, nor any of their em-ployees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liabilityor responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any informa-tion, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use wouldnot infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercialproduct, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or other-wise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation,or favoring by the State of Washington or any agency thereof. The views andopinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those ofthe State of Washington or any agency thereof.

WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Doug Sutherland—Commissioner of Public Lands

DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES

Ron Teissere—State GeologistDavid K. Norman—Assistant State Geologist

Washington Department of Natural ResourcesDivision of Geology and Earth ResourcesPO Box 47007Olympia, WA 98504-7007Phone: 360-902-1450Fax: 360-902-1785E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/

Published in the United States of America

ii

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Geologic setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Openings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Materials and structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Milling operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Waste rock dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Mine operations data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Physical attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Wildlife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Water quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

References cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Appendix A

Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Field equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Appendix B

Water quality standards for hardness dependent metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

FIGURES

Figure 1. Map showing general location of the Alder mine in Okanogan County.. . . . . . 1

Figure 2. Photo overview of the Alder mine site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Figure 3. Photo of iron staining in Alder open pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Figure 4. Photo of hanging wall and footwall in Alder open pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Figure 5. Photo of intersection of level 2 raise with pit floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 6. Photo of sublevel drift that holes out into open pit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 7. Photo of level 3 adit (Methow level) showing discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 8. Photo of entrance to level 4 (Fargo level) showing impounded water . . . . . . . 5

Figure 9. Photo of level 4 adit, water discharge, and pond (pH 3.0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 10. Photo of remains of ore-loading bunker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 11. Photo of ore loading at bunker circa 1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

TABLES

Table 1. Mine features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Table 2. Soil analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Table 3. Model Toxics Control Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Table 4. Bat information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 5. Surface water field data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Table 6. Surface water analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

iii

Inactive and Abandoned Mine Lands—Alder Mine, Twisp Mining District,Okanogan County, Washington

Fritz E. Wolff, Donald T. McKay, Jr., David K. Norman

Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources

PO 47007; Olympia, WA 98504-7007

INTRODUCTION

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources(DNR), Division of Geology and Earth Resources (DGER) isbuilding a database and geographic information system (GIS)coverage of major mines in the state. Site characterization wasinitiated in 1999 (Norman, 2000). Work is funded through inter-agency grants from the U.S. Forest Service, Region 6. Otheragencies sharing in the project are the U.S. Forest Service(USFS), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. En-vironmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington De-partment of Ecology (DOE).

Over 3800 mineral properties have been located in the stateduring the last 100 years (Huntting, 1956). Many are undevel-oped prospects of little economic importance. Therefore, in con-sidering the population to include in the Inactive and Aban-doned Mine Lands (IAML) inventory, we have identified ap-proximately 60 sites that meet one of the following criteria: (a)more than 2000 feet of underground development, (b) more than10,000 tons of production, (c) location of a known mill site orsmelter. This subset of sites includes only metal mines no longerin operation.

We have chosen to use the term inactive in the project’s titlein addition to the term abandoned because it more precisely de-scribes the land-use situation regarding mining and avoids anypolitical or legal implications of surrendering an interest to aproperty that may re-open with changes in economics, technol-ogy, or commodity importance.

The IAML database focuses on physical characteristics andhazards (openings, structures, materials, and waste) and water-related issues (acid mine drainage and/or metals transport). Ac-curate location, current ownership, and land status informationare also included. Acquisition of this information is a criticalfirst step in any systematic approach to determine if remedial orreclamation activities are warranted at a particular mine. Open-File Reports (OFRs), such as this one, provide documentationon mines or groups of mines within specific mining districts orcounties. The IAML database may be viewed with assistancefrom DGER personnel. IAML OFRs are posted online at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/pubs/.

SUMMARY

The original property contained 16 unpatented lode claims, twohomestead entries, and three patented lode claims under mineralsurvey #989. As of December 2003, the patented lode claimsand one homestead entry comprised the mine property. It is sur-rounded by the Wenatchee-Okanogan National Forest and cov-ers portions of SW¼ sec. 25 and NW¼ sec. 36, T33N R21E(Fig. 1). From its earliest discovery and development prior to1910 through May 1953 (the date of last production), the mineproduced 86,600 tons of ore that contained 35,000 ounces of

combined gold and silver, approximately 1.3 million pounds ofcopper, and 686,000 pounds of combined lead and zinc (Moen,1973). The principal feature is an open pit 500 feet long, 75 feetwide, and 150 feet deep. Four adits accessed open stopes di-rectly beneath the open pit, totaling 3000 feet of development.The mine’s vertical extent is only 370 feet from the highest out-crop to the lowest mine level. Much of the early mining was car-ried out in an upper zone of oxidation where enriched values ingold and copper were encountered. Sampling and developmentperformed on four mine levels indicate that both the gold andcopper values decrease with depth. Mapping and sampling car-ried out by Leggat (1935) indicated that mineralization on level4, also referred to as the Fargo level, was sparse to nonexistent.DGER visited the site on 10 June 2002.

1

T3

3N

R21E R22E

sec. 30

sec. 31

48°20¢120°10¢

Ald

er

Cre

ek

unsurveyed extensionsec. 25

unsurveyed extensionsec. 36

Figure 1. Map showing the general location of the Alder mine in Oka-

nogan County (above), and a more detailed map of the mine site, scale

1:24,000 (below).

Alder mine

20

97

49°119°120°

48°

USA

CANADA

Twisp

OKANOGAN

COUNTY

The mine is reached by following the Look-out Mountain road southwest of Twisp for about6 miles to elevation 3400 feet (Fig. 2). The openpit and all other openings are extremely hazard-ous. We believe that the level 4 adit is oxygen-de-pleted due to lack of interconnections under-ground, rotting timbers, oxidation of sulfideores, cave-ins, and acid mine drainage (pH =3.0). Water discharging from this opening andlevel 3 (Methow) is toxic to human health andaquatic organisms (see Table 6). Water discharg-ing into a pond from level 4 (Fargo) enters AlderCreek in periods of high runoff and has saturatedforest soils with elevated levels of copper, cad-mium, zinc, and selenium (Peplow, 1999). Wild-life and cattle use the pond.

This report covers only data obtained at theAlder mine. The 1950s-era Alder mill site nearthe southwest city limits of Twisp has been thesite of remedial action by the owner, in coopera-tion with state and federal agencies, and is notaddressed in this report. Prior to 1950, most ofthe mine’s production was shipped directly toASARCO’s Tacoma smelter without milling.Several thousand tons of low-grade ore wereconcentrated at the former Red Shirt mill near theTwisp airport, owned at the time by Alder GroupMining and Smelting Co. (Mining World, 1939).

Ownership

The present owners, Alder Gold-Copper Com-pany, Inc., of Portland, Oregon, purchased theproperty in 1947. The property consists of thethree patented claims as described below, an ad-jacent homestead tract (H.E.S. 247, ~17 acres),and a mill site near Twisp (Okanogan Assessor,written commun., 2004).

History

Gold and copper mineralization was first discov-ered in the Alder Creek area in 1896. The earlyhistory of the Alder Mine is sketchy, but the Al-der Group Mining and Smelting Co. (AlderGroup) acquired the property in 1903. Judgingfrom the information and dates of various reportson the property, this company drove three aditsinto the ore zone, two of which were connectedby a raise to a surface glory hole (Figs. 3 and 4).Three claims were patented in 1910. The originalproperty included two homesteads and a numberunpatented claims. Additional drifting but little mining wasdone from 1914 to 1916. The mine lay idle until 1928, at whichtime R. K. Magney, a Spokane mining engineer, negotiated alease and formed a company later known as Alder Metals Cor-poration. The stock market collapse of 1929 and ensuing eco-nomic depression stopped further activity until 1939 (Malott,1939). An article in Mining Truth (March 21, 1939, p. 3) re-ported an extremely complex situation regarding clouded title tothe property: “Alder Group Mining Co., controlled in North Da-kota, held title but its corporate existence was permitted to lapseafter the property was sold under contract to Alder Metals.Twisp Mining and Smelting…took over the Alder Metals inter-est but did not go through with the contract. A new com-

pany…was then incorporated and offered the property to a con-cern called Methow Gold…but Alder Metals maintain[ed] therewas no continuity of title. Another complication arises from thereputed sale of the [mine] by Twisp Mining and Smelting toChelan Mining Company.” The exact outcome of this 1939 liti-gation is not clear, but by November of that year, Mining Worldreported that the claims were “leased by the Alder Group Min-ing and Smelting Co. to the Methow Gold Corporation.

Methow Gold operated the mine from 1939 to 1941. Duringthis period, 330 cars of crude ore and 38 cars of concentratewere shipped by rail from Pateros to the ASARCO smelter inTacoma, totaling over $348,000 in gold, silver, and copper(DGER mine file). The mine was shut down in late 1941 by gov-

2 OPEN FILE REPORT 2004-16

Figure 2. Overview of the Alder mine site. Disturbed area totals about 13 acres. View

to the northeast.

Figure 3. Inside the Alder open pit. View to the north. Geologist atop iron-stained out-

crop on the rim for scale.

open pit

level 2

level 3

level 4

ernment order L-208 restricting mining operations to strategicminerals only. During this time, low-grade ore from the Alderwas milled at the former Red Shirt mill under lease to MethowGold. The Red Shirt mill is about 1 mile south of Twisp near theairport (Mining World, 1939).

Alder Gold-Copper Company, Inc., formerly of Spokane,now Portland, purchased the property in 1947. Alder Gold builta 300-ton per day flotation mill on the hill about 0.2 miles south-west of Twisp in 1950. The company continued operations on afull-time basis until May 1953 when the mine closed. There hasbeen no known production since that date. The Alder mill site atTwisp was given a ‘1a’ ranking by the Washington State Depart-ment of Ecology (DOE) due to the presence of toxic metal-bear-ing tailings and has been the site of remedial activity (R. Roeder,DOE, written commun., 2003).

Geologic Setting

Descriptions of the Alder deposit’s origin, the host rock, and itsrelationship to the mineralization have varied over the years de-pending on the accuracy of age dating and geologic mapping inthe area and expanding theories on the genesis of certain kindsof ore deposits. All investigators agree in substance, but dis-agree or postulate on specific details.

The orebody can be described as a mineralized shear zone ofheavily altered basic volcanic rock, “originally dacite, and per-haps andesitic tuffs and breccias…” (Burnet, 1976). In thatsense, it is not specifically a ‘vein’ although that term has beenapplied. Kirkemo (1953) and others describe it as a replacementmass of quartz enclosed in metavolcanic rocks resembling ande-site. Grant (1973) made the following observation: “Much ofthe zone shows intense crushing. Alteration consists of silicifi-cation, chloritization, and seritization.” The ore-bearing elon-gated structure strikes N25W with a surface expression of 500to 700 feet long by approximately 130 feet wide. The AlderCreek stock, a Tertiary quartz-diorite, intrudes Cretaceousmetavolcanics of the Newby Group at the mine, forming a dis-tinct footwall along the eastern margin of the mineralization(Fig. 4). Kirkemo (1953) describes the footwall as a “schistose,altered and bleached zone, 20 to 30 feet wide, of andesite”. It isnearly vertical along most of its strike. Burnet (1976) identifiedthe hanging-wall rocks as a quartz-sericite phyllite that he wasable to trace north of the open pit along strike for over a mile.The hanging wall of the mineralized zone dips 85SW in the openpit, gradually sloping to 50SW on level 3, 130 feet below theoutcrop. Kirkemo’s (1953) surface geology map indicates thatthe western margin is bounded by granite porphyry and alteredvolcanics.

Ore minerals in the quartz are chalcopyrite, sphalerite, andargentiferous galena, with pyrite as gangue in the unaltered sul-fide zone. In the surface oxidized zone, which extended about100 feet downdip from the outcrop, the primary ore mineralswere chalcocite, malachite, azurite, and zinc oxides and locallyabundant gold (Kirkemo, 1953).

Structural controls dominate the mine landscape. Accordingto studies done in the Methow Valley by Barksdale (1975), theAlder mine is located near the junction of two locally significantfaults, the Smith Canyon fault and the Moccasin Lake fault. The17-mile-long Smith Canyon fault passes through the westernmargin of the mine approximately 50 feet west of the level 4 por-tal and may have truncated the original deposit. Grant (1973)postulated that some surface evidence exists that the strike-slipmovement of the Smith Canyon fault may have displaced themineralized volcanics approximately 800 feet to the south.

Agreement is universal that an additional fault, running perpen-dicular to the deposit’s long axis, cuts off the mineralizationnear the south end of the open pit. Burnet (1976) described thisfeature as follows: “The Alder ore zone is offset by a NE trend-ing fault zone a few hundred feet south of the open pit”. Thisfeature’s horizontal or vertical displacement, or some combina-tion thereof, probably cannot be determined from the surfacewithout substantial core drilling. No efforts have been made toexplore for the deposit’s extensions, although most investiga-tors agree that a continuation is possible.

The northern limit of the open pit terminates in a heavilyiron-stained zone extending approximately 50 feet west of thefootwall (Fig. 3). Mining during the post-1939 operationswould obviously have sampled this area extensively, leading tothe supposition that the exposure was uneconomic. A surfacegeology map drawn by Kirkemo in 1951 (DGER mine map file)while employed by Alder Gold indicates that the footwall con-tact continues to the northwest from the iron-stained zone, but isobscured by dump material and overburden.

Most early investigators of the property believed that theclose proximity of the mineralization to the diorite intrusivesuggested a hydrothermal emplacement of the sulfides and pre-cious metals. However, the deposit exhibits many characteris-tics of a volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit ratherthan a true fissure vein deposit. Burnet (1976) reported “onesample of loose rock from the Alder open pit contains bandedsulfides that may be stratiform. If the sulfides in the mine arevolcanogenic, the strata may be overturned. The structural

IAML—ALDER MINE, OKANOGAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON 3

Figure 4. Inside Alder open pit. Note footwall of Alder Creek stock

and hanging wall of metavolcanics. View to the south.

footwall

hanging wall

hangingwall is more altered…than the structuralfootwall; it contains more veins, sulfide mineralsand perhaps more chalcopyrite. These character-istics are typical of underlying [author’s italics]rock in volcanic-exhalative ore deposits. Mas-sive sulfides, if they occur, should be within orstratigraphically above the tuffaceous zone in thefootwall.” The presence of marked seritizationand chloritization associated with the Alder dep-osit also strongly suggests VMS origin: “Hostrocks underlying VMS deposits are extensivelyaltered. Sericite, chlorite and montmorillonite…are common alteration products in Kuroko-type deposits” (Derkey, 1994).

Openings

Underground workings at the Alder mine exceed3500 feet, including four adits, an open pit, and asublevel between levels 2 and 3. Kirkemo’s 1951map (DGER mine map file) indicates that theopen pit incorporates levels 1 and 2, interceptinga vertical raise and timbers in the “H.W. Drift”40 feet above level 3 (Figs. 5 and 6).

The collar of adit level 2 is obscured by dumpmaterial at elevation 3578 feet. It is located on abarely discernible bench opposite the open pit’sshort axis, 20 feet west of and a few feet belowthe main haul road. During spring runoff, smallamounts of water discharge to the surface.

Level 3 is open and accessible. Various re-ports refer to it as the “Methow Level” driven byMethow Gold Co. circa 1939 at elevation 3478feet (Fig. 7). Surface slough covers the entranceto within a few feet of the drift timber caps. Un-derground condition is unknown. Grant (1973)reported the tunnel open but “all the raises (10 intotal) connecting to upper levels are pluggedsolid with muck.” A trickle of water at 1 gpm dis-charged from the adit on the date of DGER visita-tion. A 10-inch-deep pool of standing water wasimpounded behind the portal slough. Exhaust airwith a distinct sulfurous smell emanated from theportal at ~2 mph. This level does not show up ondocumentation written prior to 1939, thereforewe conclude that it derives its name from the pe-riod of Methow Gold operations circa 1939through 1941. Mine maps (DGER mine files)show that almost all the mineralized groundabove level 3 has been stoped to within a few feetof the open pit floor.

Level 4 is the lowest development adit on the property. Itwas driven between 1906 and 1910 by the Alder Group in an un-successful effort to develop vertical depth on the orebody. Theportal lies at elevation 3370 feet, approximately 380 feet belowthe original outcrop. Maps and reports refer to it as the “FargoLevel” after stockholders from North Dakota. Leggat (1935) ex-amined this level when it was still open and represents the bestavailable information regarding its condition and mineraliza-tion: “This tunnel…some 1200 feet long, with several branch-ing drifts and crosscuts, rambles through the country in an aim-less way and fails to find anything of importance. The vein, sofeebly mineralized as to be unrecognizable as such, is crossed,several hundred feet through the footwall…and fruitlessly ex-

plored….” The tunnel has a wye at a point 175 feet from the por-tal. The left hand entrance was “caved tight” at the time ofLeggat’s investigation. From there it wanders southwest ap-proximately 900 feet, passing directly underneath the upper lev-els and encountering only pyritized quartz, diorite, and blackandesite. We detected noticeable amounts of hydrogen sulfide inthe air exiting the portal, which is open but badly deteriorated.Crawford (1928) reported “The air in this tunnel was so bad…that only a very hurried inspection was possible.” This level,which discharges a small amount of toxic water as described be-low, should be considered an extreme hazard to human health.The portal is caved almost to the drift caps (Figs. 8 and 9).


Figure 6. Sublevel drift that holes out into the open pit 40 feet above level 3 (Methow

level). View to the west.

Figure 5. Intersection of level 2 raise with pit floor. View vertical (looking straight

down).

Materials and Structures

Photographs taken in 1963 show a sheet-metal snow shed ex-tending outward from the portal of level 3 to the dump, an orestorage bin above the access road at elevation 3434 feet, and adry house, sawmill, and miscellaneous shops clustered nearby.The buildings and snow shed are gone, and the ore bin has col-lapsed (Fig. 10). Figure 11 shows the same location circa-1940,the time of Methow Gold’s operation. The mine camp on the flatbelow the property is gone.

Water

On 10 June 2002, 1 gpm of water discharged from the level 3(Methow) portal and infiltrated the dump material within 30feet. The discharge was clear with crusts of white precipitate onthe margins. Field tests gave a pH of 4.4 and conductivity of1400 mhos/cm.

Water discharged at a rate of 4 gpm from level 4 (Fargo)about 600 feet north and 100 feet below level 3 (Methow). Weobserved a 12-inch-deep impoundment of mine water behindsurface slough at the portal, migrating by sheet flow to a pond 12inches deep, 25 feet long, and 15 feet wide about 50 feet west ofthe portal. The area between the portal and the pond is coveredwith a thick mat of dark green algae. The water is clear, but thesediment bed is stained bright orange (Figs. 12 and 13). Theelectrical conductivity meter pegged at 2000 mhos/cm maxi-mum scale, and pH measured 3.0. Wildlife and cattle use thepond. Peplow’s (1999) data regarding Alder Mine impact on Al-der Creek indicates water from this pond reaches Alder Creek ata point directly below the pond, probably during periods ofheavy rainfall or spring runoff. In addition to direct water-ladentransport, Peplow estimated, “Over 90% of the more than11,000 kg of metals discharged annually from the mine tunnelsare retained by the forest soils between the mine and creek mak-ing soil the principal reservoir for the depositionof elements delivered to the environment.”

Water samples taken by DGER at both loca-tions exceed Washington State standards fordrinking water and chronic effects to aquatic lifefor cadmium, copper, and zinc by several levelsof magnitude (see Table 6). The dischargesshould be considered extremely toxic to humans.We expected to see anomalous arsenic content inthese samples as a result of the recent publichealth issues raised about the area around the for-mer Alder mill near Twisp. However, no arsenicwas detected in the level 3 discharge, and analy-sis of level 4 discharge showed 10 �g/L. No ar-senic was detected in the level 4 grab sample ofdump material.

Analyses and field observations conductedby Raforth (Raforth and others, 2000) at the level4 impoundment agree with our 2002 investiga-tion. Results of sampling done upstream anddownstream of the mine area in Alder Creek areshown in Table 6. DGER personnel looked forbenthic macroinvertebrates without success at apoint in Alder Creek immediately west of themine site. Peplow (1999) conducted a more thor-ough evaluation of this indicator of water qual-ity: “Surber samples were collected to comparethe community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI)below the mine with samples from reference sites not impactedby the mine [above in Alder Creek and Poorman Creek as a ref-

erence stream]. The density and diversity of BMI were less be-low the mine than above…. A strong relationship wasestablished between the discharge of metal-laden mine waste


Figure 8. Entrance to level 4 (Fargo level). View to the east. Water impounded behind

colluvium slough is discharging in foreground.

Figure 7. Level 3 adit (Methow level). Note sheet flow discharge in

front of geologist. View to the east.

from the abandoned Alder Mine, elevated levelsof Cd, Se, and Zn in Alder Creek, and the condi-tion of the benthic community of Alder Creek.”Peplow’s thesis provides significant data of met-al concentration in Alder Creek in terms of geo-graphical distribution [upstream and down], andas a function of time [high flow 6/30/98 throughlow flow 9/5/98].

Milling Operations

Most of the 26,000 tons mined between 1939 and1942 were shipped to the Tacoma smelter via railfrom Pateros. This amounted to 330 carloads ofrun-of-mine ore and 38 carloads of concentrateprocessed at the Red Shirt mill near the Twispairport. In 1950/51, the Alder Gold-Copper Co.constructed a 300 tpd selective flotation millsouthwest of Twisp. Approximately 60,000 tonsof ore were mined and processed at this lattermill site between 1950 and the mine’s closure in1953 (DGER mine files). Alder Gold-CopperCo. has removed the mill. EPA and DOE haveplans to mitigate the tailings impoundments (R.Roeder, DOE, written commun., 2004).

Waste Rock Dumps

A veneer of waste rock covers almost the entiremine site west of the open pit hanging wall (Fig.2) and continues around the north end for somedistance. This material covers the original loca-tion of the level 2 portal and is so pervasive thatwe consider any attempt to reconstruct the undis-turbed geologic units in this area as problematic.The open pit floor and walls are littered withtalus accumulated since the last activity in 1953.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Name: Alder mine

MAS/MILS sequence number: 0530470333

Access: two-wheel drive road

Status of mining activity: none

Claim status: As of January 2004, propertyheld by the Alder Gold Copper Co., Portland,Oregon, consisted of three patented claims(Twisp Lode, Methow Lode, Alder Creek


Figure 10. Remains of the ore-loading bunker. View to the north.

Figure 9. Overview of level 4 adit, water discharge, and pond (pH 3.0).

Description Condition

Fenced

(yes/no)

Length

(feet)

Width

(feet)

Height/depth

(feet)

True

bearing

Elev.

(feet)

Decimal

longitude

Decimal

latitude

open pit

talus material caving from footwalland hanging wall; 6 x 6-foot raise

holes through at pit bottomnext to top of stope or drift

no 640 120 150 N25°W3578–3728

120.15949 48.32235

level 2 adit caved no 600 – – – – – – N60°E** 3578 – – – – – –

level 3 adit (Methow)open, condition unknown;

10 inches of standing waterbehind colluvium at portal

no 1000 5 7 N60°E 3478 120.15997 48.32152

level 4 adit (Fargo)open, bad air exhausting, caving

inside, toxic water dischargeno 1500 5 7 S85°E 3370 120.16046 48.32337

Table 1. Mine features. – – –, no data; **, data from DGER mine map file

Lode) and homestead entry 247, 17.42 acres. Contact theOkanogan County Assessor’s Office for additionalinformation. There are no longer any unpatented claimsattached to the mine.

Current ownership: Alder Copper Gold Co., Portland, Ore.

Surrounding land status: Okanogan National Forest

Location and map information:

Mine

name County

Mine

location

Decimal

latitude

Decimal

longitude

1:24,000

quad.

1:100,000

quad.

Alder Okanogansecs. 35, 36,T33N R21E

48.32207 120.15797TwispWest

Twisp

Directions: The mine is reached by following the LookoutMountain road (USFS Road 200) southwest of Twisp for about6 miles to elevation 3400 feet. The mine is visible to the east ofAlder Creek from the road.

MINE OPERATIONS DATA

Type of mine: underground and open pit

Commodities mined: copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold

Geologic setting: dacitic-andesitic metavolcanics of theJurassic–Cretaceous Newby Group, probably deposited alongor proximal to an island arc (Bunning, 1990)

Ore minerals: chalcopyrite, chalcocite, malachite, azurite,sphalerite, gold, galena

Non-ore minerals: quartz, pyrite, arsenopyrite

Period of production: 1902–1910, 1939–1941, 1950–1953

Development: open pit excavation and more than 3000 feetof drifts and stopes

Production: 86,634 tons of ore that included 15,000 ounces ofgold, 19,000 ounces of silver, 1.3 million pounds of copper,38,000 pounds of lead, and 648,000 pounds of zinc

Mill data: Alder Gold Copper Co. constructed a selective flo-tation mill near the Twisp city limits in 1950. The mill was useduntil 1953. The owner has dismantled it. EPA plans remedialwork on the lower tailings impoundment (R. Roeder, DOE,written commun., 2004). DOE has dis-mantled the nearby Red Shirt mill, for-merly leased by Methow Gold for mill-ing low-grade ore from the Alder minecirca 1939–1942.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

Features: see Table 1

Materials: none

Machinery: none

Structures: none

Waste rock dumps, tailings,impoundments, highwalls, or pitwalls: Waste rock dumps in excess of50,000 cubic yards; no mill tailings onsite; water impounded behind level 3adit, possibly behind levels 2 and 4.Near-vertical highwall at open pit isapproximately 150 feet high.


Sample location Arsenic Cadmium Copper Iron Lead Mercury Zinc Gold

level 4 (Fargo) dumpgrab sample

8.1 <1.0 363 39,400 164 – – – 137 – – –

Red Shirt mill tailingsat DOE well site**

29.8 <1.0 173 24,600 28.4 – – – 207 – – –

Red Shirt mill tailings100 feet east of DOEwell site**

21.6 <1.0 130 18,300 21.6 – – – 126 – – –

Table 2. Soil analysis. Metal concentrations are mg/kg. �, indicates metal was not detected;

the number following is the practical quantitation limit above which results are accurate for the par-

ticular analysis method—the metal could be present in any concentration up to that limit and not be

detected. – – –, no data; **, tailings from the Alder mine processed at the Red Shirt mill 1939–

1942. Analyses in bold indicate levels that exceed standards shown in Table 3

Figure 11. Loading ore at bunker circa 1940. Photo from Methow

Gold Co.

Metals Arsenic III Cadmium Copper Lead Mercury Zinc

mg/Kg 20 25 100 220 9 270

Table 3. WAC 173-340-900, Model Toxics Control Act. Table 749-2: Priority contaminants of

ecological concern for sites that qualify for the simplified terrestrial ecological evaluation proce-

dure (partial data). Concentrations are mg/kg. Levels shown for unrestricted land use. Levels for

silver, gold, and iron are not specified

Analysis of tailings and dumps: see Tables 2and 3

Waste rock, tailings, or dumps in excess of500 cubic yards: yes

Reclamation activity: none

VEGETATION

Sparse fir, willow, grass, algae, and stressed pineat level 4 portal. Waste rock dumps are barren, asis the open pit excavation. Xeric landscape.

WILDLIFE

See Table 4

WATER QUALITY

Surface waters observed: Alder Creek

Proximity to surface waters: 1000 feet

Domestic use: cattle grazing; pond at level 4adit used by cattle and wildlife

Acid mine drainage or staining: yes

Water field data: see Table 5

Surface water migration: seasonal dischargefrom portal of level 4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank our editor Jari Roloff for help-ful suggestions on the layout and content of thisreport. Additional appreciation goes to USFSRegion 6 personnel Bob Fujimoto and DickSawaya and Bob Raforth of the WashingtonState Department of Ecology.

REFERENCES CITED

Barksdale, J. D., 1975, Geology of the Methow Val-ley, Okanogan County, Washington: WashingtonDivision of Geology and Earth Resources Bulle-tin 68, 72 p., 1 plate.

Bunning, B. B., compiler, 1990, Geologic map of theeast half of the Twisp 1:100,000 quadrangle,Washington: Washington Division of Geologyand Earth Resources Open File Report 90-9,51 p., 1 plate.

Burnet, F. W., 1976, Felsic volcanic rocks and miner-al deposits in the Buck Mountain Formation an-desites, Okanogan County, Washington: Univer-sity of Washington Master of Science thesis,26 p., 1 plate.

Crawford, E. P., 1928, The Alder mine, owned by theTwisp Mining and Smelting Company, Twispmining district—Okanogan County, State ofWashington: [Privately published by the author],44 p.

Derkey, R. E., 1994, Hot springs and ore depositionon the sea floor off the Washington coast: Wash-ington Geology, v. 22, no. 1, p. 24-28.

Grant, A. R., 1973, Report of investigation, Alder mine area, Okanog-an County, Washington: unpublished report by Alan R. Grant,P.E., Consulting Geologist [Langley, Wash.] dated Oct. 24, 1973,9 p. [DGER mine files]

Huntting, M. T., 1956, Inventory of Washington minerals; Part II—Metallic minerals: Washington Division of Mines and GeologyBulletin 37, Part II, 2 v.


Figure 13. Algae growth in discharge from level 4 adit.

Figure 12. Site of water sample at level 4 (Fargo level) adit (pH 3.0). View to the east.

Opening Aspect

Air temp.

at portal

Air flow:

exhaust

Air flow:

intake

Multiple

interconnected

openings

Bat

evidence

Level 3 portal SW 70°Fyes,

sulfurousyes no

Level 4 portal NW 70°Fyes,

sulfurousyes no

Table 4. Bat information


Description

Flow

(feet/second)

Conductivity

(�S/cm) pH Bed color

Temp.

(°F)

Elev.

(feet) UTM N UTM E

Level 3 portal 1 1400 4.4copper saltsprecipitate

45 3578 710524 535594

Level 4 portal 4>2000 (limit of

instrument)3.0 orange 70 3370 710480 535614

Alder Creek, upstream, high flow* 45 673 8.0 – – – 46 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek, middle high flow* – – – 2650 4.9 – – – 41 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek, downstream, high flow* 900 578 8.1 – – – 45 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Mine, north adit (level 4)* – – – 3060 3.5 – – – 43 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek, upstream, low flow* 5 739 8.3 – – – 40 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek, middle downstream,low flow*

45 782 6.9 – – – 41 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek, downstream, low flow* 100 642 8.4 – – – 45 – – – – – – – – –

Alder Mine, north adit (level 4)* – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Table 5. Surface water field data. *, data collected by Robert L. Raforth, Washington Department of Ecology, Water Quality Division (Raforth and

others, 2000). – – –, no data

PART 1: ANALYSIS BY USEPA METHOD 6010, INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA

Sample location Arsenic Cadmium Copper Iron Lead Mercury Zinc Hardness

Level 3 adit (Methow) <10.0 1330 32,400 759 4 – – – 92,200 – – –

Level 4 adit (Fargo) 10.2 32,900 11,500 4910 146 – – – 203,000 1430

PART 2: ANALYSIS BY USEPA METHOD 6020, INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA/MASS SPECTROMETRY

Sample location Arsenic Cadmium Copper Iron Lead Mercury Zinc Hardness

Alder Creek upstream, high flow* <1.5 <0.04 0.8 62 0.08 <0.002 1.9 365

Alder Creek middle, high flow* – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Alder Creek downstream, high flow* <1.5 9.5 3.0 40 0.07 <0.002 484 298

Alder Mine north adit, high flow*[level 4 adit, Fargo]

3.5 3980 20,800 18,500 414 <0.002 321,000 1430

Alder Creek, upstream, low flow* 1.3 <0.02 0.9 – – – 0.02 0.0023 0.93 424

Alder Creek, middle, low flow* 0.9 2.2 3.9 – – – 0.17 <0.002 289 387

Alder Creek, downstream, low flow* 1.0 2.6 1.0 – – – 0.06 <0.002 116 354

PART 3: APPLICABLE WASHINGTON STATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

Type of standards

(applicable Washington Administrative Code) Arsenic Cadmium Copper Iron Lead Mercury Zinc Hardness

Surface water standards (WAC 173-201A, Standardfor aquatic life in surface freshwater, chronic levelmaximums at 100 mg/L hardness)

190 ** ** none ** 0.012 ** 100

Ground water standards (WAC 246-290,Washington State Department of Health, standardsfor ground water, domestic consumption)

50.0 none 1300300

(cosmeticonly)

15 2.0 5000 – – –

Table 6. Surface water analysis. Metal concentrations are �g/L; hardness is in mg/L. � indicates metal was not detected; the number following is

the practical quantitation limit above which results are accurate for the particular analysis method—the metal could be present in any concentration

up to that limit and not be detected. – – –, no data; *, data collected by Robert L. Raforth, Washington Department of Ecology, Water Quality Divi-

sion (Raforth and others, 2000). **, standards for these metals are hardness dependent. Conversion formulae are shown in http://

www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/wac173201a.pdf. Standards calculated for hardness values specific to Part 1 below are shown in Appendix B. Numbers in

bold indicate analyses that exceed one or more of the water standards shown in Part 3 below

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/wac173201a.pdf

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/wac173201a.pdf

Kirkemo, Harold, 1953, Dockets no. DMEA-2381 (copper), andDMEA-2510 (copper)—Report on Alder Gold-Copper Company,Okanogan County, Washington: unpublished memo dated April22, 1953, to DMEA Field Team, Region II, from Harold Kirkemo,Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 7 p. [DGER mine files]

Leggat, Alexander, 1935, Reconnaissance report on geology of theAlder Mine, Chelan Mining Company, Twisp, Washington: un-published report dated June 29, 1935 [Butte, Mont.], 6 p., 1 plate.[DGER mine files]

Malott, Conner, 1939, Alder Group Mining and Smelting Companyreceivership: unpublished report dated June 16, 1939, to Fred B.Morrill [Spokane, Wash.], 8 p. [DGER mine files]

Mining World, 1939, Mining with a punch for Methow gold: MiningWorld, v. 1, no. 5, p. 2-5. [DGER mine files]

Moen, Wayne, 1973, Review of Alder mine report by A. R. Grant: un-published memo to Don Ford dated Dec. 28, 1973, 2 p. [DGERmine files]

Norman, D. K., 2000, Washington’s inactive and abandoned metalmine inventory and database: Washington Geology, v. 28, no. 1/2, p. 16-18.

Peplow, Daniel, 1999, Chemical and biological indicators of mine ef-fluent impacts on Alder Creek in the north Cascade mountains,Washington: University of Washington Master of Science thesis,89 p.

Raforth, R. L.; Johnson, Art; Norman, D. K., 2000, Screening level in-vestigation of water and sediment quality of creeks in ten easternWashington mining districts, with emphasis on metals: Washing-ton Department of Ecology Publication 00-3-004, 1 v. �


Appendix A

METHODS

We recorded observations and measurements in the field. Lon-gitude and latitude were recorded in NAD83 decimal degreeformat. Literature research provided data on underground de-velopment, which was verified in the field when possible.

All water samples were collected as simple grab samples inpre-cleaned 500 mL HDPE bottles with preservative and kept onice for transport to Sound Analytical Services, Inc. (SAS). Soilsamples from dumps or tailings were taken from subsurface ma-terial and double bagged in polyethylene. Chain of custody wasmaintained.

Water and soil samples were analyzed for arsenic, cadmium,copper, iron, lead, and zinc by inductively coupled plasma/massspectrometry (ICP/MS) following USEPA Method 6010. Sam-ples were analyzed for mercury by cold vapor atomic absorption(CVAA), USEPA Method 7470 (water), and Method 7471 (soil).

Holding times for the metals of interest were observed (28days for mercury, 180 days for other metals). Instrument cali-bration was performed before each analytical run and checkedby standards and blanks. Matrix spike and matrix spike dupli-cates were performed with each set.

FIELD EQUIPMENT

barometric altimeterbinocularsdigital cameraflashlightGarmin GPS III+, handheld GPS unitHanna Instruments DiST WP-3 digital conductivity meter

and calibration solutionlitmus paper, range 0–14, and 4–7Oakton digital pH meterOakton digital electrical conductivity meterTaylor model 9841 digital thermometer

11

Appendix B

WATER QUALITY STANDARDS FOR HARDNESS DEPENDENT METALS

WAC 173-201A. Chronic standard (�g/l). Hardness data from Robert L. Raforth (Wash. Dept. of Ecology,Water Quality Divn., written commun., 2003)

Sample location Hardness (mg/l) Cd (�g/l) Cu (�g/l) Pb (�g/l) Zn (�g/l)

Alder Level 4 adit (Fargo) 1430 7.3 110.2 38 104.5

12

ofr 2004-16, inactive and abandoned mine lands: … mine, twisp mining district, okanogan county,...

Documents